In TIME's annual look at the region's most remarkable places and experiences, we try to avoid equating the best with the most luxurious, the most popular and the trendiest. Instead, we seek out surprising stories that illuminate Asia's spectacular diversity of cultures and environments, told by correspondents who know the terrain. We hope you'll enjoy these slices of color from the Asian Mind, Body and Soul.

Best Sporting Find

There are two triumphs associated with Hong Kong cricket. Firstly, Hong Kong scored the second highest run total in a one-day international match. That feat took place in 2006, in a game against Burma. Hong Kong notched up 442 runs (one short of Sri Lanka's record against the Netherlands); Burma was then bowled out for 20.

The other laudable achievement is not a one-off, it's an annual event: the International Cricket Sixes. This nine-team tournament takes place every autumn at the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC), before a few thousand souls, on a ground no bigger than the English village greens of yore. Australia's Glenn McGrath, England's Andrew Flintoff and India's Sachin Tendulkar are just some of the players who have appeared in this superbly intimate theater since the Sixes began in 1992. Each six-man team plays an innings of 30 balls. The limited number of deliveries encourages bold batting, thus each game flashes by in a blur of big hits.

Weekend tickets cost less than $40 and you don't have to queue overnight to get one. And though cricket's major tournaments are tainted by allegations of illegal gambling, the only cash changing hands here is between beer sellers and crowd. For two days a year, the Sixes turns high-rise Hong Kong into the world's nicest village green.